


Mistakes were made, or the story of why Hector shouldn't have left London

by hentailobster



Category: Pirates of the Caribbean (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Library AU, barbossa is a lovestruck idiot, everyone is a little younger for some reason, relationships aren't the main thing, that sounds dumb i know, the main thing is bullshit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-25
Updated: 2017-09-25
Packaged: 2019-01-05 11:21:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12189018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hentailobster/pseuds/hentailobster
Summary: Hector Barbossa is a student of some sort (I don't know how it works out in the world, please tell me) and is working on an essay about Aztec culture. His teacher recommends he goes to an island close to her home to do it, because he really needs to leave London. At the island there's also a great library, which he plans on using as his main source of information. The librarian turns out to be a madman who might just ruin Hector's chances of getting a good grade.(Modern AU where they're all a little younger. There isn't really a story, tbh)





	Mistakes were made, or the story of why Hector shouldn't have left London

Hector Barbosa took his coat off, already sweating from the heat of the Caribbean sun. He hastily stuffed it into one of his bags and headed to where his rented apartment was supposed to be. He took his time and looked around at the small town of Port Royal. Small might even be an understatement, it was barely there. Even from where he was right now, by the port, he could glimpse the forest that marked the end of the city.  
\- Let’s see then, he looked at the map his teacher had given him before he left. She was from around here and was the one who had recommended the town. Said it would be good for him to see more of the world than London. She had a point, and Port Royal seemed really nice. According to Tia Dalma there was supposed to be a great library somewhere in the area too, which would be perfect for finding information for his project.  
The apartment was old, like pretty much everything in Port Royal, and offered a great view of the ocean. It wasn’t big, but he wasn’t planning on spending much of his time there. Tomorrow he’d find the library and get to work. He got his laptop out of his luggage and left it to charge. He decided to save the rest of the unpacking for later and head out to explore his new surroundings.  
The first important thing he found was a supermarket, which he marked on his map. Not that it was necessary, it was pretty easy to find your way in Port Royal, but he liked keeping track of things.  
The next thing that caught his eyes was a café. ’ The Sea Turtle’. He was starting to get hungry, so he figured he could get himself something to eat. The place was filled with mostly old men, with the exception of two kids who were sharing a milkshake. Hector headed to the counter to look at what was being offered. He ordered a slice of apple pie and sat down at the table next to the two kids. As he started eating he somehow caught a bit of the kids’ conversation. The girl was telling the boy a story about some privateer, which she had certainly been told by someone else seeing as she often had to go back because she forgot some detail that turned out to be important. The boy didn’t say anything, but a quick glance at him revealed that he was listening attentively to the overexcited girl. Suddenly she stopped to shout for a waiter. Hector quickly turned away so that no one would notice that he was eavesdropping, which was in all honesty kind of creepy. He kept listening though, mainly because he was curious about the privateer.  
\- Margaret! We’re gonna pay!  
\- Okay darlings, was it good!  
\- Splendid, Hector could practically hear the girl’s smile.  
\- Will? _That must be the boy._  
\- It was great, as always,  
\- I’m glad to hear that. You know what, it’s on the house this time,  
\- Really? The girl squealed.  
\- That’s so nice of you! The boy chimed in, and the waitress laughed.  
\- Well you two are about my only customers that are’t over seventy so I thought you should get some kind of award, Hector discreetly looked over at the people talking and found himself taken away by the waitress.  
’Cute’ wasn’t the right word. She looked like a godess. Dark hair, and kind eyes that seemed endlessly deep.  
It took Hector serious efforts not to choke on his water. He did let out a cough and quickly turned to the window so that she wouldn’t notice him looking. He stopped listening to their conversation and quickly finished his pie. A red-haired girl whose name tag read ’Scarlet’ received his payment and he hurried out of the café, catching a glimpse of the beautiful waitress on his way out. _Margaret._ He blushed a little as he practically ran away from the café.  
After a while he stopped to look around. He didn’t know where he was, but figured it wouldn’t be too difficult to find his way back. After some thinking he decided it was best to find the library now.  
\- Excuse me! He caught the attention of an older man carrying a box of whine bottles.  
\- What?  
\- Sir, I’m looking for a library. Do you happen to know where it is?  
\- Ah, a newcomer I see. Well yer in luck kid, library aint far from here. Up that slope and just across the street from The Sea Turtle, Hector cringed internally. He hoped no one would notice him when he came back.  
He thanked the man and slowly headed back. The library proved hard to find, the building didn’t look very special and there was no sign or anything. what gave it away in the end was the bookshelves that he could see through the only window that wasn’t blocked by anything. He snuck in, just planning on looking through the place.  
That turned out to be a challenge, the library was like a maze with shelves everywhere, even in front of the windows which left the rooms dimly lit, and huge piles of books everywhere. The only visible window offered a view of The Sea Turtle and had a desk by it.  
There didn’t seem to be any order whatsoever to the books, which were a mix of everything from antique logbooks to manga, nor to the actual building. He felt like he was going to spend the next few months hopelessly lost.  
\- Lookin’ for something matey?  
Hector jumped at the sudden voice, which belonged to a man around his age. He looked like he hadn’t slept for a month, but that could be because of his excessive eyeliner. He smiled, and looked friendly at first, but there was something underlying that Hector didn’t like. Like the man was plotting something. He gave a quick, and pretty unenthusiastic smile.  
\- Not really, just making myself familiar with the place,  
\- Planning on spending a lot of time here are we?  
\- School project,  
\- I see, where are you from?  
\- London,  
\- A faraway guest, that’s exciting. How come you’ve ended up here? Hector hesitated before he answered, he didn’t like being asked too many questions.  
\- One of my teachers are from this area and she thought it would be a good idea to go here. She even recommended me this library,  
\- Well I’ll have to thank her some day then, we don’t get a lot of visitors here, Hector decided it was his turn to ask questions,  
\- Do you work here?  
\- More or less, not much work to do. Mostly I just hang around and study old maps and such,  
\- I see. Well I’ll come back tomorrow, see you then…  
\- Jack, Jack shook Hector’s hand.  
\- I’m Hector, he said.  
\- Then I’ll see you tomorrow Hector, Jack smiled again and disappeared behind a shelf.  
Hector snuck out of the library and headed back to his apartment, stopping to get some groceries on the way.  
Back home he found that his laptop was done charging, so he decided to send an email to Tia Dalma to tell her about how things were going. 

_To: Tia Dalma < tia.dalma@gmail.com >_

_Hi,_  
_I’ve arrived in Port Royal and have gotten installed in the apartment. Managed to find the library and I plan on starting my research tomorrow._  
_Good luck with classes,  
_ _Hector_

He shut down the laptop and prepared some form of dinner consisting of pasta and a tomato sauce, then went to bed. He was pretty sure that this would be one of the last times he got a full night’s sleep for a while. 

When he arrived at the library the next day he found that a pile of books on aztec culture had been placed on the desk. He picked one of them up and inspected it.  
\- Thoughts? Jack had snuck up on him again.  
\- Seems good enough, how did you know what I was writing about?  
\- There aren’t that many teachers from around here. Me and Tia Dalma are close friends so I just called her and asked her what you were working on. Aztec culture is pretty interesting, you know there’s this one legend that I really like about a cursed treasure…  
\- You’ll have to tell me another time, right now I just wanna get some more general information,  
\- Okay, tell me if you need anything,  
\- Can you actually find anything here? Hector couldn’t help being curious.  
\- Of course, Jack shrugged, you will too if you stay here long enough,  
\- I doubt it, Hector murmured. Then he sat down and started reading. He had planned his work before he left, the first month he’d be reading and taking notes on what he found interesting, then he’d start writing the broader stuff and save the obscure details for his third, and last, month.  
He started with the book he had picked up before, which was about the Aztecs’ religion, and managed to read without interruption for almost two hours before someone entered the room.  
\- Hello, it was the little girl from the café.  
\- Hello, do you want anything?  
\- Just wanted to say hello, I haven’t seen you before,  
\- I arrived yesterday, I’m here to work on a project,  
\- I see, what are you reading? Hector held up the book in response,  
\- That’s not a very good one,  
\- Okay, I’ll remember that, he went back to reading hoping that the little girl would go away. She didn’t, instead she sat down next to his desk with a book of her own. Looked like some fantasy story.  
Just when he thought he was safe from any distractions Jack entered the room.  
\- Elizabeth! It’s been too long, how are you?  
\- I’m great, I just said hello to this guy, Hector let out a silent sigh and put his book down to join the conversation.  
\- She sure did, guys if you’re gonna play I would love it if you did it somewhere else,  
\- Do you hear that Elizabeth? Hector doesn’t want our company,  
\- Well we are disinclined to acquiesce to your request, Elizabeth crossed her arms and looked like she was waiting for a medal to fall from the heavens and land around her neck.  
\- Charming, Hector snorted and turned back to his book, trying his best to block out the irritating noise the two were making.  
He did pretty good, so good that he didn’t even notice Will arriving and the group leaving. He managed to start on the next book before he realized it was getting late. The Sea Turtle was closing and all of the personel leaving. He saw Margaret talking to a blonde and the red-haired girl he had met the day before. She locked the door, then turned in his direction and looked him straight in the eyes. With a smile, she waved at him. He gave her a quick wave back then hid his face in the book. When he peeked over the edge the trio was leaving. He sighed deeply, deciding it was time to go home and get some dinner. He started collecting his stuff when Jack entered the room.  
\- Would you like to have some dinner? I could cook something up in no time,  
\- There’s a kitchen here?  
\- Sure is, and a pretty nice one at that. I’ll invite you to a drink too,  
Hector thought about it for a moment. On one hand Jack was pretty annoying, on the other he would probably be able to get back to work directly after he was finished eating.  
\- Well I can’t pass up on that offer,  
\- Great, I’ll get to work then, Jack grinned and disappeared into the library.  
As promised it didn’t take long for him to come fetch him and lead him to a door at the back of the house. Behind the door was a spiral staircase which led to some sort of living area. There was an unmade bed and a couch that looked ancient, but most of all there was a copious amount of books. At least a fifth of the library’s literature had to be in the room, on the bed, on the couch, in the windows an on the floor. Jack moved a few of them away from a table that Hector hadn’t noticed before and put two plates there instead.  
\- Feel free to look around, I’ll go fetch dinner, Hector nodded and headed to the table. Half of it was occupied by their plates, but on the other half a map was spread out. It looked old, but not nearly as old as the compass sitting on top of it.  
\- What do you think? Jack put down a pot of rice and a frying pan with some sort of chicken dish in it.  
\- It’s old right?  
\- Seventeenth century, it took me a year to save up to it. At a discount price,  
\- Why?  
\- It’s broken, what kind of alcohol do you want?  
\- Doesn’t matter, surprise me, Jack grinned in response and left again. Hector barely had time to sit down before his host returned with two glasses and a bottle of alcohol. He filled the glasses and handed one of them to Hector.  
\- Take some food, he was already filling his own plate with rice. Hector went for the chicken, which looked surprisingly good for being made by someone who looked like a mix between an emo and a stoner.  
He was right, the food was really good. The alcohol wasn’t really his taste, but he had had worse, besides it went well with the food.  
\- This is surprisingly good, he gestured with his fork towards the now almost empty plate.  
\- I feel slightly insulted,  
\- That was part of my plan,  
\- I see, well since you have such low thoughts of me I shall explain to you why I’m not living on fast noodles, Hector raised his eyebrows.  
\- Go ahead then,  
\- I get the impression that you aren’t that excited, anyway I used to work over at The Sea Turtle. Got fired for flirting with the customers. Don’t make that face, this was before pretty much all of the island’s younger population left to study somewhere else, he poured up what must have been his third glass and took a sip while Hector finished his food.  
\- Thanks for the food, I think I’ll get back to work now,  
\- Okay, have fun matey. No, no, leave the dishes I’ll take care of them. See you tomorrow, he waved as Hector headed back to his workplace.  
He had been reading for a while when he heard a lout noise from somewhere in the library. Confused, he put his book down and checked his watch. Almost midnight. _I must have lost track of time._ He left his desk to go check out what had caused the interruption.  
He walked around the labyrinth, not finding anything for a while before a much louder sound caught his attention. A gun shot.  
He picked up his pace, heading in the direction where he had heard the shot. Behind a bookshelf there was a smaller open space, where Jack and the two kids were currently standing and staring in bewilderment at an old pistol which Jack had pointed at the roof.  
There was a small, smoking hole just above it.  
When hector entered the ”room” the trio turned to him, all of them very silent. They stared at each other for a moment, while Hector tried to decide what to ask first, before the boy spoke.  
\- We were just testing it,  
\- Yeah I didn’t think it was loaded. Or functional, Jack lowered the pistol  
\- And no one got hurt, the girl added, I think,  
Hector pinched the bridge of his nose and shut his eyes for a second. When he opened them again Jack appeared to have hid the pistol.  
\- Okay firstly, and most obviously; where did you get a gun?  
\- Will found it in a chest, the girl pointed at the boy.  
\- Yeah and it looked old so we took it to Jack,  
\- Well then. Jack, you’re drunk, why did you start playing with it?  
Jack seemed to think for a second.  
\- I’m not a responsible man,  
\- I’m calling the cops,  
The three kids (he was never going to refer to Jack as an adult again) stared at him in pure horror.  
\- Please don’t!  
\- James is going to kill us!  
\- Correction, James is going to kill _me_ and possibly Will, don’t call the cops Hector I am armed, Jack pointed the gun at Hector, who didn’t bother with pointing out that it would have to be reloaded before it could be of any use (unless he used it as a club) and instead asked:  
\- Who’s James?  
\- A cop, Elizabeth sighed, Dad told him to take care of me a while ago and he’s taking it a little too seriously. I don’t know if it’s because he really wants to keep his job or if that’s just the way he is,  
\- Yeah and he doesn’t like me,  
\- Can’t see why. Put the gun down for goodness sake it’s not even loaded,  
Jack lowered the pistol and said something that Hector didn’t really catch. He chose to ignore it.  
All right, I’m going to go get my stuff, and when I’m back here I want you two, he pointed at Will and Elizabeth, to be on your way home and this man baby to be in his room thinking about what he has done,  
He didn’t wait for a response, just turned and left the little ”room”. 

He didn’t bother to check on the idiots when he was done packing up his things. If they got themselves hurt it was their own fault, he reasoned.  
On his way home he thought of the months that were to come. By the time he reached his apartment he had realized two things: One, he should have stayed in London and two, he was going to die. 

_To: Tia Dalma < tia.dalma@gmail.com >_

_I regret everything,  
Hector_

**Author's Note:**

> Wow that was dumb, I'm surprised you made it this far.  
> It was so weird to call Barbossa Hector. Makes him feel like a different person. This will not be frequently updated, but there isn't a story so who gives a shit? Also I tried my best with the characterization guys, I hope it wasn't too awful.  
> Please tell me what you thought, I accept constructive criticism and compliments.  
> Have fun and don't do murder.  
> Bye kids!


End file.
